You go to some doctors and tell them you are on suboxone and they won't even treat you. You go to the same pharmacy that you have for years, filling 1000's of your pain meds but now try to fill 18 suboxone and they look down their nose at you or refuse service. You go to have surgery and tell them you are on suboxone and doctors have no idea how to treat your pain OR you tell them you are on suboxone and don't want pain meds and they give them to you anyway.

There are many people who have no concept of what suboxone is or really does, so for those that are trying to use it in recovery, lets make damn sure you are CRYSTAL clear about it ... as your life depends on it!

Lets start at the beginning. Suboxone itself is NOT recovery! It is a TOOL to HELP give you the opportunity to recover. If you are just taking suboxone and that is all you are doing for recovery there is a 93% chance that you WILL RELAPSE ... when and IF you ever taper down and finally stop using it.

For this to make sense you must understand addiction itself. Addiction is not a disease in the way people have been conditioned to think. And addiction is not just a chemical imbalance. Therefore you can't JUST take a pill to get better, like you would the flu or something.

One of the most obvious reasons that you can't just take suboxone as your recovery is: to break your addiction you must change how you think, act, and react to yourself, life, and the world around you. Now, follow me here ~ if you are taking suboxone you are taking a 'pill', that makes you high (yes yes I know, I've heard "but it doesn't make ME high". Suboxone has a 'ceiling' yes? That means it MAKES YOU HIGH, just not as high as you are used to being!), that you take throughout the day ~ as needed. How close is that to what you used to do?

Ahhh yes, but you can still function on suboxone, and you can go to work, and you can get your kids back, and all that ... yes. Which means ~ you can also WORK A RECOVERY PROGRAM!

Suboxone is a TOOL ... PERIOD! Like a hammer, it can help you build the life you want to live. But the same hammer that can build can also destroy! It is all about how you use it. I've talked to people who have been 'tapering' off suboxone in a 'recovery program' for five years. I have news for you folks, that's maintenance, NOT recovery!

Now maybe you are one of these people; that's ok, as you can START recovery any day you wish! Similar to the rooms of AA and NA, many people attend the meetings that are sill using or drinking; but as they say "don't leave before the magic happens. Keep coming back."

A doctor once told me that each of us needed to define our own definition of 'success'. He said for him, he didn't care if people snorted it, shot it up, ate it, or absorbed it rectally ... if they were alive tomorrow, he wins! So YOU must decide the same thing. Forget what everyone else thinks, says or tells you to do. Do you want to 'recover', meaning free and clear of ALL drugs or are you ok with just treading water for now? Part of recovery is making the lies stop. So at least be honest with yourself! If you are wanting to tread water for awhile, that's fine ... but be honest about it!

I hope some of this made sense. And I hope something amazing happens for you today!

If you try to recover with just a pill it is for sure going to lead you right back to a pill. If you do not improve your quality of life and by this I'm not talking about buying a new car or house or anything material . What I'm talking about is activities in your life you must emerse yourself in healthy activities to coincide with your medication along with group meetings . And this is for everyone that says I don't have time for group bullshit !!! You can log onto the internet and find them I have watched some on you tube while cooking dinner if I was to busy for a sit in session . But if you think your gonna set at the house and mope around without filling all the time that you were "on the hunt " or "looking" with something positive you are destined to bring yourself right back down in the gutter . Remember how that felt and you will quickly realize oh shit all that stuff I've been hearing is right . So here's an idea GET OUTTA THE HOUSE !!!

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Chad

5/2/2015 11:22:01 am

Hey!! Thanks for taking the time Brad!

Yes sir, people need to do EVERYTHING they can to change things about their life: meetings (if they work for you), pray/meditate, get outside, get active, eat healthy, start taking care of yourself and those around your. As I so eloquently told one person: "get a fucking hobby!" ha ha! But its true! Just like you say, you can't just sit around your house and mope or do nothing. Even someone that is NOT in recovery would be depressed and want to use! Hell if I don't get out every other day or so I get cabin fever myself ... and I'm a happy fucking guy!

The main point is, taking a pill is not going to 'fix' your desire to take pills. You MUST find something to do that will change how you think about you, and the world around you!

Thank again my friend! See you around virtual space!

Chad

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Who am I?

I have been called "Sirthinkalot" and "The mender of souls." I am an addiction specialist and a full-time psychology student on the way to Dr. Davis in clinical psychology. I am currently crusading for the expedited paradigm shift in addiction recovery!